


ASNL

by ReaperJay



Category: Naruto
Genre: Also OOCness because I haven't got much practice in characterization, Comment what you think it means I'd love to know :), Don't Like Don't Read, Extreme oocness, F/M, I have terrible fashion sense, I'll leave it up to my viewers to decide what the title means, I'll stop tagging useless shit now, I'm Sorry, Just the smallest bit of pervertedness, M/M, Multi, Non-Graphic Violence, So don't say I didn't warn you, Yes even flames because it's not just nice comments that fuel my fire, because in the end we're all just words on a solid screen, but i hope you like it, feel free to hate me for it because I'm not afraid of you, i'm not entirely sure where this story will go, my OC is actually my persona, she prefers comfort and flexibility over fashion, simple as that but i'm sure you where going to do that anyways, so does my OC, tags will be added as i go along, the author has a terrible sense of humor, this is such a guilty pleasure
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-06
Updated: 2017-01-06
Packaged: 2018-09-15 04:28:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 11,035
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9219065
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ReaperJay/pseuds/ReaperJay
Summary: She didn't know what would happen when she graduated from the Academy. She thought it would be the same as how the shinobi had it before her. Boy, was she wrong. Instead her life took a turn no one suspected and discovers that there is more to herself and her past than what she thought. Especially concerning certain absent family members.





	1. A Lazy Beginning

I was perched on a nearby roof as Naruto pulled his latest stunt. I stared in silent amusement as he painted ridiculous faces on the carved heads of the Hokage mountain, laughing his head whilst he was at it. He had splatters of paint all over his clothes and face, I was surprised that he wasn't covered head to toe in the stuff.

I turned my head to look across from where I was, the roar of enraged shinobi that had gathered on the large open space near the defaced mountain, grabbing my attention. I saw Iruka standing in front of the angry crowd, glaring at Naruto as he watched the little mischief-maker have his fun. But I suspect that won't lasting much longer.

'Well,' I thought, 'Naruto's in for now.'

Suddenly, the shinobi fell to quiet murmurs as the Lord Hokage strided to stand next to Iruka..

'Looks like play time's over.' I thought, sweat-dropping. I shifted my gaze back over to Naruto. He hadn't noticed them yet, too indulged in his 'artwork'. But he soon started to flail and panic as he heard Iruka's shouting, realizing that he was totally gonna be busted for his graffiti-ing. I took this as my cue to head back to class and teleported away with a quiet poof.

I landed back in front of my seat. I have left a doppelganger in my place so no-one would notice my absence. It swiftly disappeared in a cloud of smoke as soon as I sat down to take it's place. I quickly glanced across the room to make sure no-one had noticed the switch. No? Okay. Phew. Everyone is too absorbed in their own thing to notice. Good.

I sat back and relaxed in my seat, ready to doze off for a bit. I was placed in the back corner of the class where it was shadowed but still near a window so I could look out of it when I was feeling particularly bored and in need of some form of entertainment. The shadow of the corner concealed me from the view of my peers, but people would still be able to see my if they knew how to look. I know Iruka-sensei can see me but he never asked me to do any demonstrations or drew anyone's attention to me. I think it's because he was more concerned for the other students, since I passed all of my courses adequately.

A loud slam broke me out of my musings. I looked across to the front of the room to see Iruka-sensei dragging a tied-up Naruto in his wake. He plopped Naruto in the middle of the open space in front of his desk. He had an angry look on his face and Naruto had a grumpy expression and was pouting.

'Well there goes my nap.' I thought irritably, wincing at the loudness when Iruka started yelling.

"Tomorrow all of your classmates will pass the final exam and graduate from the Ninja Academy! But the last two times this day came 'round, you flunked every course you'd taken in the Secret Arts!" Iruka-sensei lectured, pointing his finger at Naruto who was still pouting like a five year old. "So you chose now for your stupid tricks?! You moron!"

Naruto just grumbled and sulked from his place on the ground, "Sir, yes, sir." Iruka threw an irritated glare at Naruto for his attitude before turning to the rest of the class, his irateness now directed at us.

"Today in class we'll be reviewing the Art of Transformation!" he instructed, both Naruto and the rest of the class yelling out in outrage.

'Pfft. Such a waste of time for a good nap.' I thought, staring lazily at my sensei. 'But I guess I'll do it just for the sake of it.'

"All you have to do is..." Iruka purposely dragging out the sentence. "Conjure a form that looks like me!"

The students formed a line and all glared at Naruto, blaming him for making them do this. I made my way to the back of the line silently and with bored eyes watched as one by one the students did the task set for them. It soon came to be Naruto's turn and I inwardly cringed, knowing that somehow Naruto's gonna flunk it. No offence to him of course.

Naruto padded across to the space as soon as his name was called and with a gush of chakra he transformed. When the dust cleared, in his place stood a beautiful female version of Naruto, that giggling and winking at Iruka.

I resisted the urge to face-palm at Naruto's antics. But I had to hand it to him, he made that jutsu all by himself and for being a bottom of the class dunce, this was an impressive feat. I was pretty impressed by that fact.

But of course despite his efforts, Naruto was once again scolded and class was over for the day.

Later the same day, I was walking in the park with my hands stuffed in my pockets not really having any idea as to what to do. Bored, I looked around the slightly wooded area for anything to quench my boredom and to my luck I saw Shikamaru my best (and only) friend and walked up to him. As usual he was dozing under a shady tree. I smiled fondly at the sight and sat down next to him, leaning against the bark of the tree. I notice Shikamaru cracking one of his eyes open to see who had disturbed him from his nap so I lift up a hand in greeting.

"Hey, Shika." I said, my small smile turning back to it's normal expressionless way. Shikamaru yawned and gave me a lazy smirk in return.

"Hey Reicheru, come to nap here with me have you?"

I gave a quiet chuckle. "Yeah. I'm kinda sleepy right now. Watching Naruto earlier today was tiring." I said as I stretched my limbs to get comfortable while Shika replied.

"Tch, stalking Naruto are we?" He said closing his eyes again.

"Hey, I don't stalk him. He just happens to be in either the same place I am or in my field of vision, nothing stalker-ish about that." I retorted, interlocking my fingers whilst they rested on my stomach.

"Suure." He teased, giving me an amused smirk.

"Hey, I'm serious." I pouted, throwing a weak glare back at him.

"Alright, alright. Geez, troublesome. C'mere lets sleep." He prompted, yawning once again. I just smiled as he shifted to get ready to sleep more. I got comfortable as well besides him happily, the companionship welcome.

But before I dozed off fully, I smiled contently with my eyes closed and stated, "You know I'm not that troublesome." Shikamaru grinned slightly but stayed silent, knowing it was true. Despite what others may normally think about him, him seeing anything and everything as troublesome that is, he hardly ever found her troublesome at all. Sure there were times when they would have arguments, but what friendship doesn't?

So, now that the exchange was over we fell into a comfortable silence and let the soothing sounds of nature lull us to sleep.

~0~

I woke up to the sounds of birds chirping. I shuffled against the firm softness beneath me confused before realizing that I was in a bed. Blearily, I opened my eyes to see the dark colour-scheme of my bedroom.

"Huh, that's strange." I thought aloud to myself. "I could have sworn I was in the park with Shikamaru."

'Eeh. I'll just ask him when I see him again.' I thought, shrugging as I got prepared for school. 'And speaking of school, don't I have the graduation exam today?' Remembering what Iruka-sensei told us in class yesterday, indeed I did. Whelp, better go. Don't wanna be late after all and if I'm lucky I might even get in nap before the exam starts. With that in mind, I teleported silently to my usual seat in class.

As soon as I was there, I noticed the anxious expressions on some of my classmates's faces. I paid them no mind and settled into my shadowed corner. Hearing the familiar click of the classroom door opening, I turned to the source of the sound and watched with tired eyes as Master Iruka stepped into the classroom with a sheet of paper in his hand.

I listened carefully as he began to speak. "For your final exam, you must each generate a doppelganger! Wait here until your name is called out then come next door."

With that being said, the first name was called up. 'Pfft, piece of cake, I've done that millions of times before.' I thought, slumping into my chair and closing my eyes, listening out for my name so that I could get this over with already. I know that's rather over-confident of me but wouldn't you be too if you knew something like that back of your hand and had to take an exam involving it? Yeah, you'd think the same thing too.

~0~

After about half an hour of waiting, my name was finally called out. Nodding at the jounin in charge, I teleported to the exam room.

The two men there were surprised at my sudden entrance, Iruka the first to recover from the shock after recognizing who I am said, "How did you know how to do that?"

"The normal academy stuff was a little too easy for me and I got bored. So I decided to study new techniques on my own and came out with this." I replied nonchalantly, staring at the teacher with black-ringed eyes.

"I see, Reicheru. But if it was easy for you. You could have taken the exams earlier than the rest."

"I didn't want the attention that would come with it, Iruka-sensei." I shrugged. "Besides, I have friends here that I don't wanna leave behind." Shikamaru came to mind.

Iruka smiled slightly at my last reply. "Alright then. Let's start the exam. Go ahead Reicheru."

I nodded and readied my stance and with a few hand-signs, I conjured three perfect copies of myself, each standing in an ordered pattern, forming the standard protection formation used in squads.

Iruka studied the forms and was surprised to find them not only perfect but solid beings as well.

"C-congratulations, Reicheru. You pass with perfect scores." Iruka stuttered slightly and gestured to the headbands set on the table in front of them. "Take a hetai-ate, you are now a genin."

Giving them nod. I walked up to the table. I noticed that all the headbands were blue. Scratching the back of my head, I looked up to the men now directly in front of me.

"Uh, don't suppose you have any black coloured headbands, do ya?"

Iruka lifted up a cardboard box with black headbands in. Taking one then nodding in thanks, I made my way out onto the courtyard in front of the school, where all the other graduates and their parents were celebrating merrily about their achievement. Having enough of school I headed home for the day to catch up on some much needed sleep.


	2. When Fangirls Attack

The next day found me in one of the larger classrooms in the Academy. It was being used to accommodate all the graduates that had passed yesterday's exam. I wasn't sitting in my usual shady corner, since it was taken by some other guys, so now I'm sitting near the front next to the famous Sasuke Uchiha. He was the biggest heart-throb for 98% of the school's female population. The one percent being me and the other Hinata Hyuuga, who had an enormous crush on Naruto. Poor girl, Naruto's head over heels for Sakura Haruno, who according to most of the male student body, was 'a total babe'. Hinata was more an acquaintance then a friend, which is a shame 'cause I think she a nice girl and I'd like to hang out with her more often. 

Now Sasuke. Don't get me wrong, I do find him attractive (who can deny that) but it's more to the point of just being something nice to look at. No offence to him but from what I've heard from Shikamaru and my other classmates he isn't the most talkative of people, so he's pretty much impossible to get a decent conversation out of. Their words, not mine. Personally, I don't mind. I'm not a talkative person myself, so it's not like I hate him for his quietness. 

What I do hate is not him specifically but what came with his existence; fangirls. They're everywhere! It's like they had a silent motto; anywhere he goes, they go. I've seen Sasuke walk through the streets with a pack of girls trailing along behind him like an endless squealing, heart vomiting duckling line. It's so annoying! I honestly wonder how the guy can deal with them. He must have some pretty serious stealth skills if he can get any privacy at all from them. Another thing is their aggression, they're so unnecessary mean to any girl that so much as even look his way, that includes each-other! Whenever they think one girl in the group has more chance at being 'Lady Uchiha' as they say, they ruthlessly pick apart the competition like a pack of piranhas. It just makes me wanna slap 'em all, I hate them so much. 

Ugh, I really should calm down. Okay, deep breaths, count to ten. In. Out. 

Okay, I'm good.

'And speaking of fangirls, here comes two of them.' I thought, as I spotted Sakura Haruno and Ino Yamanaka squeezing their way through the door-frame, trying their hardest to get into the classroom first. I assume it's so they could get to Sasuke before each-other. They finally managed to get into the room, but as soon as they stepped foot in it they were bickering about who was here first. Their shrill, high-pitch voices giving me a headache. Rubbing my temples, I groaned and leaned my head back to rest on the top of the chair I was sitting on.

"A headache is not what I need right now." I grumbled. Unintentionally, catching the attention of the person sitting next to me. Feeling someone's eyes on me, I looked sideways to see Sasuke watching me. Feeling astonished for the boy who had to deal with the wailing banshees 24/7, I asked him the question that was currently running through my mind.

"How do you put with them? You could go deaf with pitch their screaming at."

His mouth twitched upwards at the comment. He had smiled, just barely, but he did. 'So the Uchiha can show something.' I thought, grinning to myself. Good thing I had my bandage mask, I wouldn't want people to think I'm a fangirl with the expression I now sported on my face. The sudden drop in noise made me look around, wondering what happened. I groaned when I realized what it was; the two wailing banshees had stopped their yapping and were heading my way.

'Argh! Why did I decide to sit here?!' I mentally screamed to myself. They were most likely here to see Sasuke, who was right next to me! I've set myself up for torture!

Suddenly, pink fluff engulfed my vision and I leaned away quickly to rid my face of the offending colour. My eyes came back into focus, so I took the opportunity to see what was in front of my face. It was Sakura, she was standing in front of me with Ino behind her. The strong odor of her perfume stung my nose as I breathed in, making me wriggle my nose in distaste. The girl had her hand on her slant hips and had an expectant look on her face.

"Can I help you?" I asked with a raised eyebrow, my upper-body still leaning backwards lazily against my chair.

Sakura huffed and said, "Yeah, could you move to a different seat?"

"And why would I wanna do that?" I inquired, my eyebrow raising even higher.

Ino laughed like it was the most obvious thing in the world, "Because we wanna sit next to Sasuke and you have the only seat that is next to him."

Sakura nodded in agreement, putting her hands on her hips and adding, "So move it."

Irritation weld up in me as I replied, putting my feet on the desk and crossed my arms in a sign of defiance, "Sorry, but this seat is taken. You can't have it."

I saw rage flash in both of the fangirls eyes but it didn't faze me. I wasn't moving from this spot. At. All.

"What do you mean we can't have it?!" They screeched together, the combined voices making my ears pang. 

"Do you want me to say the definition? Or should I rephrase it?" I noticed the fight that I was having was drawing the attention of the rest of the class. They were snickering at my remark and/or gaping at me in shock. Normally I would buckled under their gazes but I was in too a sadistic mood to be bothered by it. I smirked as I heard their comments about the fangirls or me having a death-wish. 

'Lets show them who they shouldn't piss off.' I snickered, the thought of bloodshed taking over me. I glanced sideways, noticing that Sasuke was watching the argument with intense eyes. Our eyes met and I saw the small glint of gratefulness and amusement in his eyes. Giving him the tiniest of nods I turned my attention back to the now rabid fangirls and said, "You cannot have this seat, it is mine. So please. Go. Find. Your. Own. Preferably away from me. "

I made sure to be extra slow so their slow minds can understand me. But obviously I must have crossed some sort of line as the sharp pain of a slap exploded on my cheek. I rubbed the bruised cheek to help relieve some of the pain. My head must have snapped sideways when it hit because I was now looking at the rest of the graduates in the room. They mostly had shocked expressions on their faces, others either angered or pitying. I notice Shikamaru in one of the rows behind me, he was watching the dispute with rage in his eyes. He soon noticed me staring, his rage turning into concern. Then a pained look spread across my features as the sting from the slap made itself known and I winced slightly as I touched my tender cheek with a slender hand. It made me angry that such twats managed to lay a hand on me, my veins filling with rage, my blood-lust becoming even stronger.

'Shit.' I thought, as I realized what was happening. 'This isn't good.'

Must.

Stay.

Calm. 

~Shikamaru's POV~

Shikamaru's blood boiled in anger and rage as he watched his best friend get hit by Sakura and Ino. Even more so at the pained expression on her half-covered face - which was now even more obscured by the brand new hetai-ate on her forehead - he could see the bruise spreading so much it was peeking from underneath the girl's mask. He knew that it must be quite painful as well, seeing as she winced in pain by a mere brush of her hand. It'll be a couple of days before it would be healed completely. 

At that thought, Shikamaru glared at the two girls who had caused the injury. How dare they harm his friend and over something as ridiculous as a seat that was not even their's in the first place. He gripped the edge of his desk hard, debating on whether or not to either beat up the wenches or comfort Reicheru. His logic made the obvious choice to comfort his Reicheru, whilst his instincts told him to eliminate the threat. In the end he chose to do neither as he watch the boy the two harpies were fighting over stood up.

~Reicheru's POV~

I felt a hand grip my jaw gently, forcing me to turn my gaze to whatever it want me to look and saw Sasuke with a concerned and angered expression on his face, which made me blink in surprise. This is very unusual for him as his face is normally expressionless like mine, not to mention he didn't seem care about anyone but himself if attitude had anything to say about it. His eyes seemed to melt away my anger and replace it with confusion, I gave him a perplexed look at his sudden concern but he ignored the silent question in favour of turning to the two perpetrators and demanding them to explain why they had hit me.

Sakura was the one who spoke first.

"W-well, er, Sasuke-kun. U-um, she was in the way, yeah." Was Sakura's excuse and a poor one at that. Ino made an attempt to make a better excuse.

"We wanted to sit next to you, Sasuke-kun. So we could be closer to you, but she wouldn't move to a different seat like we asked."

"So you decided to hit her to get your way? Tch, you disgust me. You didn't even stop to think that maybe I had wanted her to sit next to me in the first place." The fangirl duo paled at the last sentence. Sasuke glared harshly, "Well for your information, I do. So go and sit somewhere else. Away from us."

They flinched at Sasuke's icy glare and complied to his demands but not without sending me piercing glares of their own. Sasuke looked back at me, his hand still gripped on me. He stroked my cheek gently with his thumb, caressing the bruise that was there. I couldn't help but lean into the gentle touch, my weakness rearing it's ugly head. But he must realised what he had been doing because suddenly like he was electrocuted, he snatched his hand away and turned away from me, his black eyes glancing back to me from time to time. If I didn't know any better I'd say that he was acting almost shy.

"You okay?" He asked finally, his voice still a bit harsh in tone.

I looked at him with a smile, even though he couldn't see it. I was grateful that Sasuke had intervened. I didn't know what came over me when I said those things, even though they did somewhat deserve it. I could have done a lot worst to Sakura and Ino and despite what had happened, I didn't want to hurt the two girls. If I had, there was no telling what I could have done to them. Whether Sasuke realizes it or not, he just saved his fangirls from the brunt of my rage.

"I'm fine, don't worry about me." I semi-lied and when I saw Sasuke point at my bruise, I waved it off saying. "It's just a bruise, it'll heal in a couple of days."

I could tell Sasuke wanted to press on but he stayed silent and turned back to face the front stiffly. I followed his lead, though in a more relaxed way, determined to get some sort of rest in before Iruka came (he still wasn't here yet) and assigned us to our squads.

But just as I was about to close my eyes, I was engulfed in yet another eye-blinding colour, this time it was a bright neon orange. I'm gonna end up blind if this keeps happening. And I only know one person who would wear such a ghastly colour and sure enough Naruto was squatted on the desk, grumbling and glaring at Sasuke for whatever reason, who was glaring back just as intensely.

I sweat-dropped. 'What is that idiot up to now?'

I could hear Sakura yell from behind me. "Naruto, you jerk! Leave Sasuke alone!"

The other fangirls in the room practically raved for Sasuke to hit the blonde boy. It didn't seem faze Naruto in the slightest. How very foolish of him.

Suddenly though, he lost his balance (which I notice was caused by the guy behind him accidentally pushing him) and he tipped forward, crashing into Sasuke, which resulted in an awkward smooch.

I burst out laughing at the scene, I tried to stop but failed as fits of giggles escaped my lips. Dammit I can't hold it in!

"Oh my gosh! Hahaha! That is the most hilarious thing ever!" I cackled, slapping my leg during my laughter. I turned to where Shikamaru sat.

"Shika did you see that?! Oh my- hahahaha!" I was now unable to form proper words. I saw Shikamaru smirk along with me in amusement. Wiping tears of mirth from my eyes, I let the laughter die down into giggles until I had calmed down almost completely. God I almost died of laughter, I couldn't breathe during that.

I turned back to the desk to see Naruto and Sasuke coughing and spluttering with Sakura (who was now once again in front of my desk, though was on the other side away from me this time) looking just about to pummel Naruto within an inch of his life. Of course she did just that, though on a much smaller scale.

~0~

After they had finally settled down in their respective places, with Naruto covered in bumps and bruises, Iruka finally entered the classroom. He once again had a piece of paper in hand. He stood in the middle of the front desk and cleared his throat to get the graduates attention.

"From this day forward, you are no longer mere students of ninjutsu, but full-fledged shinobi. But among the ranks of the shinobi, you are mere novices, lowest of the low. Your greatest challenges all lie ahead." Iruka addressed. "The next step is the assignment of official duties to you all on behalf of our village. We begin with dividing you into three-man cells. Each will be monitored by a Jounin a more senior ninja who will guide and coach you as you become familiar with your various assignments."

~Sasuke's P.O.V.~

Sasuke sat, his head resting on his interlaced fingers, thinking over the information. 'Three man cells? Sounds like two too many.' He glanced over at Reicheru who was listening to the names calling out intensely. 'Although, I suppose I wouldn't mind being on a team with Reicheru. She seems like a strong ninja seeing as she didn't even think that the bruise she got from Sakura was anything but a simple scratch. Speaking of that, why had I reacted that way? I shouldn't of cared what happened to the girl and yet I protected her. I feel like I had acted on impulse, my body and mind reacting without thought. Like I was possessed. I don't understand what happened. Why do I feel like this?'

His eyes travelled over her form, his questions going unanswered. 'Still though, she's rather mysterious, I never even noticed her until today when she sat besides me. Her appearance is rather strange as well. Her face is hidden behind bandages and her headband so only her eyes are visible. I've never seen anyone dress like that before. I wonder what she's hiding under there. Her torso is exposed behind fishnets, which is pretty unwise of her seeing as any enemy ninja could strike there and cut her easily, not to mention how tight the top is on her and her bre-. Wait. No. Stop right there Sasuke!' He thought, a nosebleed and blush threatening to form. 'Why am I even thinking these thoughts? It's not like I like her or anything. Right? Ugh, let's just forget about it and carry on listening to Master Iruka.'

He stared at mysterious girl a little longer before focusing his gaze back on the sensei.

~Reicheru's P.O.V.~

'I wonder who I'll be with.' I thought my eyes drifting between the other students. 'Maybe Shikamaru? That'll be cool. But what if I'm not grouped with him?' I sighed mentally. 'I hope I'm teamed with someone I'm at least familiar with.'

I snapped myself out of my thoughts once Iruka started talking again, I didn't want to miss anything important.

"I made the selections so that each cell's abilities would be approximately equal." Most of the class protested at that but were soon silenced as Iruka began to read out their assigned teams. My name wasn't said until the seventh team was called out.

"Next, cell number 7. Haruno Sakura, Uzumaki Naruto, Uchiha Sasuke and since there's an an uneven amount of graduates you will be getting a fourth member; Kurogami Reicheru." Said Iruka-sensei.

Of course, when Naruto heard Sasuke would be on the same team as him, he had to argue.

"Master Iruka! What were you thinking of, saddling a most excellent shinobi like myself with that loser!?" Shouted Naruto whilst pointing his finger at Sasuke. I resisted the urge to bang my head against the desk at Naruto's idiocy.

"Of the twenty-eight of you, Sasuke has one of the best grades, Naruto." Iruka replied sternly.

"Who's the best then?" Naruto asked. I saw Sasuke perk up a bit, he was probably curious as to who surpassed him.

"That would be Reicheru, who has near perfect grades, same as Sasuke, so they get the top spots." Iruka responded. That gave me some awed or jealous looks from the class, making me shy away behind my folded arms. I hate having that sort of attention. "So as I was saying, Naruto. You would be bottom of the class. The idea is to balance your different strengths. That's why you ended up together."

"Hmm." I hear Sasuke remark besides me. "Just don't drag me down, dunce." I sighed as my newly established team-mates once again picked on each other.

We were then dismissed until the afternoon, when we'll be introduced to our new sensei.

I took this as a chance to talk to Shikamaru about yesterday. After a few minutes of searching, I found him on one of the academy's roofs with Ino and a short, round boy.

"Hey Shika." I mumbled, landing next to him when I lept on.

"Hey Reicheru. I saw what happened to you earlier. Are you alright?" He asked and gestured to my injured cheek. I saw Ino give me guilty look. She must've felt bad about what she's done, now that Sasuke wasn't here to distract her, she finally realised what damage she has done to me. I nodded keeping quiet.

"You don't look it." He frowned, concerned. He raised a hand to gently hold my jaw and turned my head to inspect to damage. He stroked the bandages that covered half my face softly. "Looks like that's gonna stay there for a couple of days. Does it hurt?"

I paused for a second, then nodded minutely. Shikamaru smiled sympathetically before letting go. I followed him as he sat down, placing myself besides him.

The sound of a throat clearing itself reminded me that we were not alone. I snapped my eyes open and quickly leaned away from Shikamaru in embarrassment.

"So... you wanna... introduce yourself?" The round boy spoke, munching on potato chips in between words.

"Oh, sorry. I forgot you guys were there." I said sheepishly, scratching the back of my head. "My name's Reicheru. What's yours?"

"Choji and this is Ino. Though I think you already knew that." Choji answered, still munching on his snack.

Ino was about to say something when I interrupted. I knew what she was about to say and I answered immediately.

"Don't worry about it, shit happens. I can barely feel it anyways, so don't feel guilty about hitting me." I said nonchalantly, closing my eyes in an eye-smile to show that it was okay. Ino smiled back, happy that everything was fine. Of course I still a little bit angry about being hit, I don't take being injured lightly. But the anger wasn't enough for me to do anything about it, it just makes hold a slight grudge and my grudges don't even last for a full day, being a rather laid-back person and all.

"Thanks, Reicheru." She chirped and looked between me and Shikamaru curiously. "Though I gotta ask, are you and Shikamaru dating?"

At that, I laughed. "Haha, you wouldn't be the first person to ask that. No we're not, we're just friends, have been since we were young."

Ino pouted a little and squealed with her hands squishing her cheeks. "Aww. But you two looked soo cute together. Never mind though, so how did you two meet?"

A wave of sadness passed through me as painful memories hit me all at once. I ducked my head and hid behind my bangs. I didn't want to talk about it.

"It's a long story and not a particularly happy one either." I stated, trying to keep myself from showing anything.

Ino gained an apologetic look. "Oh, sorry. I won't ask again."

Just then, the bell rung to signal that it was time to return back to the classroom. When we did so and sat down in our respective seats, we waited with baited breath for our sensei' to arrive. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ouch! I felt that slap.
> 
> So what do you think of this chapter? Tell me down below, I'd love to know. Ooh, a rhyme!


	3. Introductions

It had been at least an hour since the jounins had started to arrive and pick up their squad and our's still hadn't shown up yet. By now the classroom was virtually empty, even Master Iruka left and now Naruto wouldn't settle down, being eager to meet our new sensei, and had started to impatiently glance every now and then down the corridors of the school.

Sasuke and Sakura were seated besides me as usual. But Sakura moved away, easily getting annoyed at Naruto's constant grumbling and decided to yell at him.

"Cut it out Naruto!"

Naruto turned over his shoulder to look at her. "Why are we the only cell whose teacher hasn't shown up yet?!" The blond boy folded his arms and pouted. "All the other teams have already gone off with their teachers. Even Master Iruka has gone!"

'Speaking of the other teams.' I thought, my head laying on the table, buried in the crook of my arms. 'I miss Shikamaru already. It's a shame that I'm not on the same team as him.' But oh well, guess their teacher didn't want to deal with two students taking naps together. I mentally laughed at the thought. That's probably what me and Shika would have done.

I was dragged out of my thoughts by Sakura's voice. I looked at where she was. She was still scolding Naruto who was preparing another one of his pranks. It was a simple but funny joke that consisted a blackboard rubber being jammed between the door and the door frame at the very top, so that if one opened the door it would drop down on their head, giving them a hair full of chalk dust.

"Heh heh heh." Laughed Naruto mischievously before jumping down from the stool he was using. "It's what he gets for making us wait!"

Sakura scoffed. "Grow up! I want no part of it!"

I hear Sasuke 'tch' from besides me. "No way could a superior shinobi be caught in such a simple booby trap."

"This is gonna end badly for us." I mumbled quietly to myself, rising from the slumped position and stretched my body of it's kinks, making loud cracks as I loosened up my joints.

I notice a hand on the door and watched as it creak open as a silver-haired man stepped in. Everyone excluding the man and myself, held their breath as the blackboard rubber landed on the man's head.

Naruto burst out laughing at the show whilst pointing his finger at the new comer. "Ha ha ha! Gotcha! Good one!"

Of course though, Sakura tried to take herself out of the equation. "I'm sorry, sensei. I tried to stop him, but Naruto..." She trailed off at the end. The man put a hand to his chin and gave a single eye-smile. "Hmm, how shall I put this? Based on my first impression, I'd have to say... I hate you."

My teammates gave a gloomy look whereas I just stared lazily, it wasn't the first time someone said that to me and besides I'm not particularly fond of anyone in my team either... well almost anyone. The silver-haired man still eye-smiling, said. "Meet me on the roof." And with that he teleported away in a cloud of white smoke. Well, he's sure not one for wasting time.

I sighed and rubbed the sleep dust from my green eyes before I stood up and performed the necessary hand-signs for teleportation. "See you there." I saluted to my team-mates, leaving them shocked as I disappeared in a poof of white smoke as well.

I reappeared on the roof of the nearby building. My new sensei was sat on the railing in front of me reading an orange book titled 'Icha Icha Paradise' and from what I could tell from the cover of the book it was about romance. I've seen the book somewhere before in my favourite book store, I think I remember it being in the adult section... Not that I was in the adult section, of course! I was across from it and just saw it on one of the shelves... I'm not a pervert I swear!

Sensei didn't even look up from his reading material, appearing to be engrossed in his imagination. Mentally sighing, I just assumed he noticed me and sat on the concrete floor in front of one of the wooden benches that neatly outlined the rectangle of the symmetrically positioned trees in the center of the building's roof and leaned against it. I watched my sensei calmly as he flicked through the pages of his book. I was curious about the man, his obscured looks gave him a mysterious vibe, I have yet to know his name and his strength and ability as the shinobi is obviously still unknown to me. But I suppose that's to be expected. 

I put a finger to my bandage-covered lips and stroked and fiddled with it thoughtfully. 'But I can't help but feel as though I've seen him somewhere before. Maybe in town or something? I dunno.' I racked through my brain in search of an answer and came up with nothing. Giving up for now, I tilted my head back to look at the sky above me and winced when the wooden seat of the bench bashed against the back of my head painfully. Rubbing the sore spot before laying it back down more gently, I gazed at the fluffy white clouds above me, remembering some of my happier childhood memories fondly. My reminiscing didn't last long though as Naruto's boisterous laughter reached my ears, interrupting me. I turned to where the sound came from and saw my teammates clamber onto the roof one by one.

Sensei finally lifted his head from his book to gaze upon his new students as they took a seat on the bench I was leaning on; Naruto on the left-hand side, Sasuke in the middle and Sakura on right. I was seated on the floor as always, except now I was in front of Sasuke with my back towards him. I could feel the warmth of his legs on my arms and shoulders as they parted to accommodate me. I was tense at the sudden contact but soon relaxed as I got used to them. I focused on Sensei immediately when he cleared his throat to get our attention.

"Now, I'd like you all to tell us a little about yourself."

Sakura looked at Sensei questioningly. "Like what?"

"Oh you know, the usual. Your favorite thing, what you hate most, dreams, ambitions, hobbies, things like that." Sensei responded.

This time Naruto was the one who spoke. "C'mon help us out here, coach. You go first, show us how it's done."

"Yeah, that's right. After all you're a stranger to us. A mystery." Sakura pointed out.

"Huh. Me?" Said Sensei with a lazy look. "Well, alright. My name is Hatake Kakashi. I'm the kind of person who doesn't feel like talking about his likes and dislikes. My dreams for the future is none of your business... but anyway I have lots of hobbies."

Kakashi-sensei's, as his name is now, little biography gave away nothing but his name. Leaving us slightly annoyed.

"Well that's no use. A big speech and we know nothing but his name." Sakura muttered.

'Exactly,' I thought to myself, seeing the logic in it. 'As a ninja you must be careful with the information you give out. So that if an enemy were to be eavesdropping they would gain no useful information.'

Kakashi gestured a hand to us and told us. "Now it's your turn. Starting with you on the right." He pointed to Naruto who straightened up slightly and fiddled with his headband.

"Oh! My name is Naruto Uzumaki! What I like is Instant Cup Ramen! What I like even better is when Master Iruka treats me to ramen at the Ichiraku Noodle Bar! What I hate is the three minutes wait after I pour in the boiling hot water. My dream is to be a better shinobi than Lord Hokage!" Naruto said proudly in his usual loud manner. "And then all the villagers will acknowledge my existence at last!"

Sometime during the blonde boy's little speech, I felt hands lightly comb and fiddle with the strands of my somewhat messy hair. I discreetly look across to see who the culprit was. It wasn't Sakura as she was busy playing with her own candy floss hair and Naruto has his hands to himself. So it must be Sasuke's, but it's so strange and out of character for him though. 'Why would he be doing this?' But before I could think any further into it, Naruto spoke again.

"And hobbies? Well, I like pranks and practical jokes I guess."

Kakashi sweat-dropped and said with a dead-panned tone. "I see. Next!"

Sasuke paused a little in his petting before resuming. His movements were soft and calming, but his voice held little to no emotion as he spoke. "My name is Sasuke Uchiha. There are plenty of things I hate, but I'd don't see any of that matters, considering there is almost nothing I do like. It seems pointless to talk about 'dreams' that's just a word. But what I do have is determination. I plan to restore my clan, and there is someone who I have sworn to _kill_." As he hissed the last part of the sentence the grip on my hair suddenly tightened, releasing a pained yelp out of me. The noise startled the others. They were unaware of what Sasuke was doing with my hair during the time, so it came as a surprise to them when they saw me clutch at my head where the hair had been yanked.

Sasuke immediately released the hold he had on my hair and I internally sighed with relief. That really hurt my head. I heard a barely audible apology from behind me, I turned my head to see Sasuke looking away, his eyes hardly meeting mine. A blush unnoticed by everyone except myself dusted the boy's pale cheeks giving him a rather sheepish look. I eye-smiled as the bandage-mask hid my real smile from view. "It's okay." I mumbled gently and turned away from him. I could practically feel Sakura's intense glare drill holes into my skull and I resisted the urge to roll my eyes at the typical fangirl behavior. 'And all because she doesn't have Sasuke's attention.' I thought to myself. The sound of Kakashi-sensei voice directed our attention back to him. "Okay. Now next up is you with the pink hair." He said pointing to Sakura.

At that Sakura stopped glaring at me to speak whilst blushing furiously. "I am Sakura Haruno. My favorite thing is, well it's not a thing, it's a person. A boy and that boy is, well, let's move on to my dream." Her blush intensified at that point. But became a look of intense dislike when she said. "I hate Naruto."

Naruto yelled in disbelief. A tick managed to find it's way above my eye and I mentally groaned in annoyance at the behavior of the two. It seemed Kakashi-sensei had enough as well as he raised his voice. "Enough!"

The two immediately shut their traps and calmed down. "Now that you're finished we can move on to the last person." Sensei said calmly and looked at me expectantly.

I sighed and straightened myself up. "Name's Reicheru Kurogami. I like sleeping, hanging out with friends and learning. I dislike people that are annoying and people who interrupt my sleep, which is generally most people. My ambition is to protect what friends I have and bring my clan to glory and uncover the secrets it hides. And my dream is to be the one of the strongest kunoichi ever, so that people will stop pitying me because I have something they do not and finally treat me as an equal. My hobbies are reading advanced books, training myself to get stronger, sleeping and cloud watching." At that I leaned back against Sasuke's legs and gazed lazily at the rest of the group. "That's it."

Kakashi scratched the back of his head. "So I believe we all understand one another. Formal training begins tomorrow."

Naruto gained an excited look and saluted enthusiastically. "Yes sir! What will out duties be! Our first real shinobi mission!"

"Our first project involves only the members of this cell."

"What is it? What?" Inquired Naruto eagerly, Sakura and Sasuke also gained curious looks, wanting to know what we'll be doing. Kakashi deliberately prolonged his response to add suspense.

"Survival exercises."

Naruto tilted his head much like a puppy in confusion. Sakura perplexed asked. "Survival exercises? But why would that be a mission? Our school days were full of survival training!"

"But you'll be surviving against me. It won't be your typical practice." Kakashi explained.

"Well then, what kind of practice will it be?" Naruto asked. Kakashi snickered suddenly for some reason. Sakura frowned and inquired. "What are you laughing about Master Kakashi?"

Kakashi smirked under his mask. "Oh, it's nothing. Just that, if I told you, you'd chicken out."

I narrowed my eyes at comment and listened carefully as I waited for Kakashi to explain it.

"Chicken out? Why?!" Naruto demanded.

Kakashi leaned forward and rested his chin on his hand. "Over the twenty-seven members of your graduating class, only nine will actually be accepted as junior-level shinobi. The other eighteen must go back for more training." Kakashi stared at as intensely sending shivers down my spin. "The test we're about to perform has a 66% rate of failure."

Me and my teammates stared at Kakashi in absolute shock. My eyes were wide and my mouth slightly agape, stretching my bandages out. Kakashi laughed at our faces. "Ha ha ha! See? You're chickening out already!"

My face turned angry at being laughed at. I hate being humiliated. Naruto seemed to have reached his limit as he snapped. "This sucks! We've been through hell! What about our graduation test?!"

Kakashi raised his eyebrows, the only visible one going up into his slanted headband. "Oh. We wanted to eliminate all the hopeless cases from your ranks. The ones who are left are the only students who show true potential."

"Say what?!" Naruto raved. Kakashi just continued. "In any case, we'll meet tomorrow on the practice field so that I can evaluate each of your skills and weaknesses. Bring all your ninja tools and weapons." Kakashi rubbed his chin. "Oh, and don't have breakfast before hand. Unless you enjoy throwing up that is."

Sakura had a panicked expression on her face, her hand digging into her flamingo pink hair. "Throw up?! How hard is this exercise gonna be?!"

Kakashi grabbed a few papers from his pocket and handed them to us. Sakura grabbed the sheets and took one before handing the rest to Sasuke. "The details of your assignment are in this handout, memorize it and don't be late."

I took the sheet that Sasuke passed to me, our hands briefly touched creating a sort of tingle run through my veins. 'What was that?! It was like chakra except not. It was like lighting.' I pondered, staring at the sheet to disguise myself. The information on it was the basic, what time you need to be there, which training field it was, etc. I stood up along with everyone and pocketed the slip. I should probably go home and train. But before I teleported away I ran a hand through my hair, I had felt a weight on it that wasn't there before, my hand stopped at a particularly thick part of the hair. It felt familiar and out of curiosity, I brushed my hair around the side, only to see something that made me smile.

It was a thick braid that started at the left side my head near the bangs and dropped down to end just below my chest. It was tied off with a single midnight blue ribbon with a small Uchiha Clan's crest on it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wonder where Sasuke learned to braid?


	4. Chapter 4

The next morning found me walking down the path to the training grounds. It was a nice day out, not too warm, not too cold and the clouds were out and about drifting across the big blue sky. The perfect weather for cloud-watching. Sadly though it was not to be as I had a huge assignment to get to. I had spent the rest of the day yesterday, studying and training for today, reading up on advanced jutsus and exercises, meditating to help keep the flow of chakra steady and to keep a calm mind. I had eaten this morning despite what Kakashi-sensei had said. I have found out through previous experiences that having an empty stomach can make the feeling of sickness even worse, as the hunger pains fueled the nausea and added extra discomfort. I kept it light though just in case, an apple, some plain toast and water is enough to keep the hunger at bay until lunch at least.

My train of thought was once again interrupted by the distant sound of Naruto's voice from behind me. I turned around to see the blond-haired boy racing towards in an effort to catch up. I stopped and held a hand up at him in greeting. Eventually he caught up and was walking along besides me. We chattered about nonsense until we finally reached our destination, Training Field 7. I saw that Sasuke and Sakura had already made it there.

"Hey!" Naruto shouted. "How long have you been here for? Has sensei shown up yet?"

Sakura lifted her head up from her arms. She was sitting on the grass with her knees tucked up to her chin, her arms resting on them. Sasuke was leaning against a nearby tree his face as emotionless as ever.

"We've only been here for about fifteen minutes or so." Sakura said and shook her head. "And no, sensei hasn't shown up yet."

Naruto groaned in disappointment. I walked up to the tree Sasuke was leaning on and climbed up it, relaxing on my belly on a strong branch in the tree, letting my legs dangle from either side of the branch to help keep balance. I gazed down below me to see Sasuke looking up at me. I waved silently and eye-smiled, Sasuke just grunted and looked away. I took that as a good morning from the grumpy Uchiha and rested my head on my hand and closed my eyes to doze in the sunlight that peaked out from the leaves, listening to the roar of the trees and the bickering of my teammates.

I later woke up from being shook and the voice of Sasuke in my ear. "Wake up, Reicheru. Wake up."

"Hnn?" I groaned sleepily, blearily opening my eyes to see Sasuke face above me.

"Get up, dobe. Sensei's here." He said, his eyes holding annoyance and something else I couldn't quite place.

"Okay, okay, I'm up." I mumbled whilst sitting up to rub my eyes. Sasuke grunted and jumped down. I followed his lead and landed firmly on my feet on the soft grass of the field. I walked over to where the group was standing a few feet away and saw that Master Kakashi was indeed there, an alarm clock was standing on a tree stump besides him.

Now that everyone was here, Kakashi began to speak. "I've set this alarm to go off at noon." He gestured to the clock with a hand. He then shuffled around in his pockets and brought out... bells? Weird. "I have here two small bells." He raised the bells. "Your challenge is to steal these from me before the timer sounds. Anyone who fails doesn't get any lunch, instead you will be tied to that tree trunk, so I can eat your lunch in front of you." He gestured to the three tree trunks, the middle on being the same stump the alarm clock was one.

'Heh! Good thing I ate then.' I thought smugly. I crossed my arms and shifted my weight onto my right leg, leaning back slightly to make it more comfortable for myself. I listen carefully as Kakashi-sensei continued. "All you need is one bell apiece. But since there aren't enough to go around, two of you are definitely headed for the stump and whoever that'll be will be the first to fail." I couldn't help but gulp at his sinister words. 'I'm gonna have to work hard to get that bell, no way am I gonna go back to the Academy, not while I've got my dream to fulfill.' I thought determinedly, clutching at my arm.

"You may use shuriken, if you choose. Attack as though you mean to kill or you'll never stand a chance." Kakashi instructed. Sakura looked surprised at Sensei's words, saying. "B-but that's so dangerous!" Naruto laughed along adding. "Yeah, you couldn't even dodge an eraser! You're gonna get yourself killed!"

"So how do you think he became a Jounin if can't dodge falling objects?" I said aloud to no one in particular. Kakashi ignored me, instead answering Naruto jab. "Only the weak speak loudly. Now, let's forget the dunce and we'll start on my signal."

Ouch. Now that's a big ol' punch to the face. I could see the rage welling up on the whiskered boy's face and in no less than a second he pounced onto Kakashi with a kunai. But the blade didn't even touch the masked man as quicker than a blink he had Naruto in a disarming grip.

"That's why." I heard Sasuke say, answering my earlier comment. I was amazed at the speed of which the man moved. "He moved faster than my Teleportation Jutsu." I said with awe. Sasuke turned to me. "Is that what it was?"

Confused I tilted my head."Huh?" Sasuke rolled his eyes.

"Yesterday, in the classroom. You disappeared in cloud of smoke." He clarified. Remembering, I said. "Oh, yeah. That was the Teleportation Jutsu. Why d'you ask?"

Sasuke shrugged. "No particular reason. Just wanted to know." I nodded in understanding and at left it at that. I focused my eyes back on Naruto and Kakashi, who was giving a lecture.

"Not so fast. I didn't say 'Go' yet." Kakashi released the hold he had on Naruto. "But at least you struck to kill. So, it seems you've finally begun to respect me." He laughed. "Hahaha, maybe. Just maybe, I'm starting to like you four."

I smiled slightly at that. I suppose that's one more person that'll like me at least.

"Now!" I tensed. "Ready!" We braced ourselves. "Steady!" Nearly there! "GO!"

Yes! And with that I dashed towards the thicket of the woodland around us, using a nearby tree for cover. I watched the man carefully, planning various moves and outcomes. It seems though that Naruto wanted to take the bull by the horns. "It's time for the match to begin!" He bellowed. He was still standing in the clearing where we previously were. "Let's make it a real match, worthy of the greatest warriors!"

I once again sweat-dropped at the boy's antics. 'Oh Naruto... you just had to take him on now.'

"You may be thinking of the wrong kind of match." Kakashi said sweat-dropping himself.

"The only thing wrong is your hair-cut!" Naruto shouted as he charged at the Jounin. He skidded to a stop suddenly when Kakashi reached into his pack. I watch with narrowed as Kakashi lift his hand out of the bag to reveal... an Icha Icha Paradise book.

'Oh my god. Is he for real?' I thought annoyed. 'Is he even taking this test seriously?'

Naruto stared at Sensei stupidly. Kakashi buried his nose into his book and said expectantly to the shocked boy. "Is something wrong? I thought you were coming for me."

Naruto just spluttered as he attempt to speak. "But-. You-. I mean, I- I mean-. Why are you-? That's a book!" His words got worse as he tried to make sense of the situation.

"Of course it's a book. I've been dying to find out how this story ends." He said calmly like it was obvious. "Carry on. It shouldn't make any difference in the outcome, considering who I'm up against."

'There goes another punch to ego.' I thought with a wince. 'Wow. First this guy pulls out a 'romance' book in a battle and now he pushes Naruto's buttons a second time. He must have some moves if he thinks he can take on Naruto's rage. As much as that kid acts like an idiot, he's far from it when he puts his mind to it, (his Sexy Jutsu is proof of that) and insulting Naruto is the right way to set him off.'

It seemed that Kakashi's words have registered in his mind as Naruto swiftly became even more enraged and resumed his attack on the sensei. He lept into the air, landing a swift punch to the reading man's shoulder. He swung his leg around to get in another hit but met thin air as Kakashi ducked, making the leg miss it's mark. Changing his tactics he turned from where he landed and lept forward once more with an arm steadily swinging 'round, aiming for Kakashi's masked face.

But again he met with nothing. Kakashi had somehow wound up behind Naruto, still squatting. But this time his book was closed within his grasp and his fingers were clasped in the hand sign of the Tiger. He was going to use a jutsu!

I gasped in shock and concern. "Oh no..." I whispered. I wanted to shout but I didn't want to give away my position. But it's seems it wasn't just me that was worried for him as I heard Sakura's voice from a few feet away. "Naruto! Get out of there! You'll be killed!" She screamed.

But it was too late for Naruto because as quick as a flash Kakashi's hand shot up, whilst he yelled. "Konoha's most secret and most sacred technique! A THOUSAND YEARS OF DEATH!" His hand landed as a hard jab up Naruto's butt, sending him flying across the air into the nearby pond, screaming all the way.

I suppressed my laughter with a hand to my mouth, in fear of exposing myself. 'God that must have been the funniest thing I've since the SasuNaru kiss!' I shook my head in an attempt to pull myself together. 'Dammit Reicheru, be serious here! You're supposed to get the bells and pass the test! Get it together woman!'

Managing to finally calm down I returned my attention back to the scene. Naruto had dragged himself back out of the water coughing and spluttering, and Kakashi had a shuriken twirling on his finger, his nose once again buried in his book. Naruto had probably thrown it as a chance to get the teacher back but was clearly unsuccessful.

"Well? What's the holdup?" Kakashi asked, his focus now on Naruto. "Get one of these bells by lunch or there'll be no lunch."

"Duh! I know that!" Naruto retorted, he was soaking wet and his hair was clinging to his scalp. He looked like a drowned cat.

"You claim to want to surpass the Lord Hokage, but you've already run out of steam." Kakashi observed. I heard a faint jingle and zoomed in on Kakashi, I could see the two bells hanging from Sensei's trousers. (A/N: Pants if you're American or breeches if you're posh.)

'Ahah! Found ya!' I thought triumphantly, smirking underneath my mask. Though my stomach had other ideas as it let out a low gurgle. Guess that simple breakfast wasn't enough.

Naruto's loud voice broke me from my thoughts. "I just wasn't ready, that's all!"

"So learn to get ready. Don't they say that chance favors the prepared mind?" Kakashi advised. He flipped through his book with his back still turned to Naruto.

Loud splashes suddenly filled the air. I turned to look at the pond to at least a dozen Narutos spring from the water.

'Whoah! How did he even have the chakra to do that?!' I thought in wonder, the impressive feat surprising me. I watched in anticipation, waiting for Naruto to make his next move.

Even Master Kakashi has shocked, but soon he once again talked the blonde-haired down. "Not illusions, but actual multiple flesh-and-blood bodies. But at your level. You couldn't be strong enough to hold this up for even a minute. You talk a good game, but you're still only Naruto. You're a one trick pony that hasn't got what it takes to win!"

What happened next came as a shock. Naruto had somehow shown up behind Sensei and grasped him!

"Heh! Heh! Nice to see your back, MASTER!" Naruto cackled. A clone then swiftly jumped up into the air along with the others and prepared to ambush the man the real Naruto had in his arms.

'He used the Art of Misdirection to tackle Master Kakashi!' I remember reading and practicing it with Shikamaru. That was such a clever plan for Naruto to make. 'Don't underestimate a prankster.' I thought feeling proud of Naruto for such an accomplishment.

Naruto 2 swung his fist into Kakashi's face. Only it wasn't Kakashi he hit, it was himself! Kakashi had used the Art of Substitution, so that means he's somewhere else.

Chaos ensued as the Naruto beat it each other up, thinking one of them was the missing man. Clones disappeared, leaving the real Naruto standing in the clearing. He looked awful all bloody and bruised.

I was on heavy guard, being extremely wary of Kakashi, who has yet to show up again. I was tense on my branch, my eyes scanning to see any sign. I heard the snap of a trap being sprung and Naruto's yelling indicating that he had fell victim to it. I snapped my attention to where the boy was as soon as I heard Kakashi's voice. Slinking silently across the branches to get a closer look, I studied the scene carefully. Was it the real Kakashi or not? I couldn't tell.

Suddenly, Sasuke lept from the bush where he was hiding and threw a multitude of weapons at unsuspecting masked man. The man poofed into a cloud of smoke revealing a log embedded with shuriken and kunai, confirming my thoughts; it was a substitution.

'Dammit!' I thought. 'Looks like I'm just gonna have to wait until the real one shows up.' I followed Sasuke using the trees when he left, being as silent as I possibly can. Surely Kakashi would go after the Uchiha next, considering who he is. After a few minutes of running we came upon a clearing. I stopped in the last tree as Sasuke walked into the open space. Suddenly, a high pitched wail echoed throughout area, it sounded like Sakura. What happened?!

"The second shinobi battle skill." A familiar voice said. I looked around and saw Kakashi leaning against a thick tree, his book once again out. "And Sakura fell for it."

Sasuke tched. "I'm not like them."

Kakashi scoffed. "Save the boasts until you've got a bell, Sasuke." He looked up. "And besides, if you're so smart. You would have noticed that you were being followed."

My breathing stopped. Was I found out?

The dark-haired boy frowned. "Of course I was aware. It's what you were doing in the first place."

"Not me." Said Sensei. Sasuke gave a confused look. I froze as Kakashi's hand lifted to point at where I was hidden. "Her."

Sasuke whipped his head round and looked up to see who had been following him. With my position given away, I had no choice but reveal myself. I jumped and somersaulted to land in front of the raven-haired male, he had a surprised look on his face before shifting to anger.

"Why were you following me?" He demanded more than asked. I frowned and crossed my arms, replying. "I wanted to find the real Kakashi and I thought you would be his next opponent. Being a Uchiha and all."

"You are partially correct." Said Kakashi, making me look at him. "I did want to seek him out. I wanted to see what his abilities as a Uchiha are like, but I also had to lure you out somehow, Kurogami Reicheru. Your clan is well known for it's unique secret techniques and unusual abilities, I would like to see what yours are." Kakashi stood from his position, he was no longer looking at his book. Instead, he was staring directly into my eyes, dark pools of obsidian intense with an unknown emotion. Gulping nervously I prepared a stance, bracing myself for combat. He walked towards us before stopping a few meters away.

"So now, I have both of you here. " The masked man drawled. "The Uchiha and the Kurogami, I'm looking forward to it."

**Author's Note:**

> Reicheru isn't a Shikamaru clone I swear!  
> She's modeled after myself and I have a pretty lazy personality (probably because of depression tbh), please don't hate her for it. Actually, you know what? Go ahead and hate her if you feel like that would make your life just a little bit easier, because I'm not going to be arrogant and assume that my character is going to be liked by everyone. But hopefully she'll grow out of it as she comes into herself and get I used to writing her character (and writing in general).  
> So tell me what you think of her below in the comment section, I'd love to know! :D


End file.
